...anything about Gilles Berthoud saddles?

[sukuinage]

I've got the chance of buying a Gilles Berthoud Marie Blanque saddle, like-new condition and half the price of a new one. I have a couple of concerns:
- I'm a reasonable sized bloke and it's a womans saddle - think the only difference is the length but I'm wondering whether it would be too short for me? I'm not sure why women's saddles are shorter in the first place and whether it will really make a difference.
- The usual saddle comfort question! I've tried Brooks before and really didn't get on with them; had an Ideale "92" which was better but got mishapen in the rain and I'm now using Specialized Toupe 155 width on my tourer and road bike and they're pretty good for my normal distances of up to 100 miles. The Gilles seems to be a similar shape and width hence my interest. Don't know if anyone here has similar experiences
Anyone got any views on the subject? I'm guessing that if I don't get on with the saddle I should be able to sell it on but would like to have some feeling as to whether it's a good idea or not!

[simonineaston]

Have saddles, both from Brooks and Gilles Berthoud. You're buying in to the same idea, that is a hide top, supported at front and back. If you didn't get on with a Brooks, the chances are you won't get on with a GB... Having said that, hide top saddles are in my view very individual - for example I've have several identical Brooks - the same model - that all felt slightly different. So there. It's up to you. Plus of GB is they look really good...
Main difference in men's / women's models tends to be the width between 2 spots designed to support the user's sit bones. Length, in my view, less important.

[tatanab]

At a cut price it has to be worth a try. An issue with reselling it might be a more limited market being aimed at women, and in particular women who want a leather saddle.

Caveat - I have 5 Berthoud Aspin saddles that work for me straight from the box, so I am a fan. I used Brooks for many years previously but got fed up with modern ones failing on me; my 1960s one is still good, just a problem with post 2000.

[markjohnobrien]

GB are great saddles.

[andrew_s]

Saddle length:
Women's saddles are shorter mainly to facilitate the wearing of skirts (or so I believe).
Some sort of nose on the saddle is useful for added bike control when not quite sitting on the saddle on rough ground, the nose providing a bracing point against the inside of the thigh. Presumably a shorter nose means you can't lift so far off the saddle without losing contact.

Like @tatanab, I switched from Brooks (Team Pro) to GB (Aspin) because the Brooks weren't lasting like they used to. The GB are comfortable, and lasting well.

[yostumpy]

I too was tempted but the lure of a French Fancy all dressed up in leather........Oh wrong forum!

Joking aside, i bought one 'cheap' from Germany, and it was a bargain, an Aravis, heard very lovely thiings about them, alas, after 3 months I had to admit defeat, and go back to my Spa Nidd, (now about 9 years old, and must be 50-60,000 km) I found it very comfortable, but I could not set the seat in such a way, that it would stop my tackle going numb. Up off the seat every 20 miins or so, and all was fine, but when you forgot....hmmmmm, no matter how much of a temptress the French Fancy was ,it would'na revive the wee timorous beastie.......ooops I'm off again!


https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=110395.0

My review.

[Brucey]

I agree with Andrew's points above. Also, I have used a Ladies Brooks saddle (at first by accident) on one bike and since it worked more or less OK I ended up doing quite a few miles on it. However I was aware that I was more often in contact with the frontmost rivets, which might turn into a problem depending on how you sit on the saddle and how smooth the saddle is at that point.

cheers